The Scripps Ranch field hockey team ought to adopt the saying from Mark Twain and put it on T-shirts.

Anyone who thought the defending San Diego Section Division I champions would not be a factor this season because graduation took 13 players off last year’s undefeated squad, leading to an 0-2 start this fall, should heed the words of Twain — “The reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated.”

Scripps Ranch successfully defended its championship in the 37th annual Serra Tournament at Serra High on Saturday with a 2-1 victory courtesy of strokes over Torrey Pines in the finals.

“It was strange to be 0-2,” said Scripps Ranch senior Kelsey DeJesus, who was named the tournament’s most valuable player. “No one likes that losing feeling.

“Someone told me it was the first time Scripps was 0-2 in like 10 years.”

Those days are in the rearview mirror as Scripps Ranch, now 9-2, got goals in stroke play from junior Cierra Taylor, sophomore Kyra Kent and senior Kendra Jones, while sophomore goalie Alex Hammonds, who was the team manager last year, blocked two of the three shots she faced in stroke play. The other shot went wide.

“I love strokes,” DeJesus said. “It’s less tiring but more stressful.

“I don’t normally stroke, so I have to sit and watch. That’s nerve-racking. I watch every shot, but I don’t open my eyes until after the shot.”

Scripps Ranch breezed through the day with an 8-0 win over La Jolla and a 3-0 triumph over Rancho Buena Vista and took a 1-0 lead in the first half of the finals.

Niki Neidhart took a shot off a short corner and whistled it into the cage.

Less than five minutes later, Torrey Pines (9-3) — which earned a berth in the finals by beating Serra 2-1 in strokes after getting a goal by Sammy Cirino in the final minute of regulation — drew even on Madison Cohen’s goal off a pass from Gaby Jimenez.

Torrey Pines had a few golden scoring chances that just missed in regulation.

“I told the girls to stay focused and stay calm before strokes,” Scripps Ranch coach Jane Morrill said. “We’re not usually good at strokes and Torrey is.

“But the girls found a way, just as they did when we were 0-2. Winning never gets boring.”